Once you start it, you won't be able to switch it off!
How does it compare to similar audio books?
Excellent
How does it compare to audio works by the same author?
Very good
Advantages:
Great police story, which brings the character of Jack Frost even larger than life, multiple plots makes for fast, frenetic pace
Disadvantages:
Frost may be too vulgar in the book for some people used to the TV series
Recommend to potential buyers:
yes
Full review
‘Night Frost’ by R. D. Wingfield is one of a series of novels featuring Inspector Jack Frost, who most of us associate with the TV series, ‘A Touch of Frost’, played by the wonderfully idiosyncratic David Jason. If you love the series, then you really should try and read one of Wingfield’s novels, as they have all been adapted into episodes for the show, and thus are likely to be instantly familiar to you.
See if you can recognize the plot here. This book focuses on three main plots. Frost and the rest of Denton station are facing a crisis caused by a local flu epidemic, and with Inspector Allen down, Frost is in charge of running the detective division, with his new sidekick, Sergeant Gilmore, an ambitious young policeman, newly moved form London. Expecting to be working alongside the efficient Allen, he is obviously disappointed to arrive and find himself appointed to work alongside the irascible, rude and slapdash Frost. They have a murder of a local schoolgirl, Paula Bartlett, who was last seen on her bike doing her morning paper-round. Is her death connected to the suicide of another young teenager, and the discovery of pornographic videos, being sold locally, featuring the teenager and other children? Meanwhile, a serial killer is going around slashing elderly people in their homes, seemingly running rings round the police, as Frost finds no evidence to help him, despite more and more murders mounting up. If that wasn’t enough, there is a young couple on the outskirts of Denton who are receiving death threats, arson attacks and coffins delivered to their door. Who could be terrorizing them. Frost isn’t convinced that the couple are entirely innocent. As if this is not enough, there are poison-pen letters being sent around the town, and Chief Superintendent Mullett, the butt of Frost’s humour, wants Gilmore to collect evidence of Frost’s incompetencies, so that he can get rind of the inspector once and for all.
If you have not read any of the books, then expect Frost to be a chain-smoking, rude and crude police officer, who is even more hilarious than David Jason’s excellent portrayal, though also far more vulgar … it’s great humour though, and perfectly timed. You get the impression that Frost really is more incompetent, and completely reliant on luck and a good dose of his intuition than any chance of solid evidence being found. The writing is frenetic, with Frost always on the go, and there is a great writing of dialogue, between Frost and the other people in the book.
The style is simple to read, and though containing occasional passages of vivid description, centres most exclusively on action and dialogue, with chapters being connected to the time scale of the book (For instance, Monday morning shift). This makes the book a great relaxing read, not requiring too much in terms of memory or concentration. In fact, I loved reading this book in the bath. It is certainly an addictive reading experience, and will have you laughing out loud at some of the bawdy comments from Frost’s mouth. And if you like this book, you will certainly be wanting to read the others in the series (of which there are a total of five).
The book is currently prices at £5.99, published by Corgi, with an ISBN of 0-552-14558-0
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